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Repeat of severe weather for Memorial Day called unlikely

May 22, 2009 By

Parts of Iowa may receive a brief shower or two over the next few days, but it shouldn’t wash out the holiday weekend. National Weather Service Meteorologist Jeff Johnson is predicting about a 30% chance for rain through Sunday. "It’s kind of very nebulous and light at this point…it’s going to be more miss than hit I think," Johnson said.

Last year over the Memorial Day weekend, extremely severe weather popped up across Iowa – including an EF5 tornado that leveled the towns of Parkersburg and New Hartford. Johnson says severe storms this year aren’t likely.

"The pattern looks kind of weird, it’s more or less like we’re into a summer pattern," Johnson explained. "So, the wind fields to support severe weather aren’t there…we could have some thunderstorms, but the odds of having organized severe thunderstorms like last year are pretty low."

Temperatures through the holiday weekend should be comfortable, with highs in the 70s and lows in the 50s statewide. Johnson expects partly to mostly cloudy conditions with the best chance for rain on Monday.

"I would say the precipitation chances on Monday are pushing more like 50% as opposed to 30," Johnson said 

Filed Under: Weather

Unemployment rate drops by .1% in April

May 22, 2009 By

Figures released today from Iowa Workforce Development show unemployment dropped slightly in April to 5.1% compared to 5.2% in March. Workforce Development spokesperson, Kerry Koonce, says it’s good news, but it doesn’t indicate just yet that the job outlook is turning around.

Koonce says a tenth of a percent change is not significant enough to know if things are turning around. She says they do know that the decrease was due to a a continued drop in claims for unemployment as some manufacturers that had workers on temporary layoff brought some workers back. Koonce says they need a couple more months to see if the economy is turning around.

Koonce says they want to see a quarter or so of rates on the increase before they can say the economy is on the mend. Koonce says the state overall lost 1,600 jobs, which was well below the 9,300 lost in March. She says gains in some areas offset some of the loses.

Koonce says the state added 2,000 jobs in the trades, transportation and utilities area, with most of those being in transportation. Government added 1,700 jobs, with many of those being at state and federal parks. Koonce says there was an increase of 100 jobs in manufacturing, the first time manufacturing gains since August of 2008.

She says there were significant loses in leisure and hospitality industries of 1,700 jobs, when there’s generally an increase at this time of year. And there was a loss of 1,900 jobs in construction. The April rate of 5.1% is well above last year’s April rate of 4%. It is still well below the national unemployment rate of 8.9%. 

You can see the unemployment report on the Iowa Workforce Development website.

Filed Under: Business Tagged With:

Governor to decide whether to ease nursing home fines

May 22, 2009 By

An aide to Governor Culver says the governor’s hearing from supporters and opponents of a proposal that would eliminate some fines for nursing home violations. The measure would forgive certain violations if a nursing home identifies an error on its own and corrects it before an inspection.

David Werning of the Department of Inspections and Appeals says his agency lobbied against the idea when it was pending in the legislature.

"We gave it our best attempt to inform the legislators as to what our concerns were with the bill. It’s the will of the legislature, if you want to put it that way now, that the bill came out the way it did," Werning says. "We have to kind of now wait to see if the governor agrees with the legislators."

While Werning and other Department of Inspections and Appeals officials aren’t publicly urging the governor to veto the proposal, Werning says they’re worried that if it becomes law, some nursing home residents might be put at risk.

"Our job is to protect the health, safety and welfare of residents of nursing homes," Werning says. "We definitely have concern."

Officials at the Iowa Department of Elder Affairs say fines against nursing homes in Iowa are already lower than in any other Midwestern state and, unlike their counterparts at the Department of Inspections and Appeals, they’re publicly urging the governor to veto the idea. John McCalley, the director of the Iowa Department of Elder Affairs, says nursing homes might never been fined even for an error that caused substantial harm to a resident if nursing home managers correct the error before an inspection.

The proposal is part of the largest and the last bill to clear the legislature, a bill that includes a wide variety of spending initiatives as well as this proposed change in nursing home fines.

 

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: , , ,

Budget bills waiting on Governor Culver’s desk

May 22, 2009 By

Governor Chet Culver has a batch of budget bills on his desk waiting for his review. The governor has "item veto" authority which he could use to cut some of the spending in those bills, but Culver says the budget plan his fellow Democrats in the legislature drew up will get his endorsement.

"We just had very honest and fair negotiations on the budget so it’s not likely we’ll see a lot more in cuts," Culver says. Republicans criticize the budget plan Democrats developed, calling it bloated. Culver counters that many state agencies will be spending less next year compared to the current budgeting year.

Culver also says the budget plan doesn’t spend down to the last dime. "That was really the fight, to make sure we left enough in the ending balance," Culver says. "We left around $100 million."

Culver calls that $100 million a cushion which, along with the four-hundred million that remains in the state’s cash reserve, will help state government ride out what could be a rocky 12-month period. State officials are using millions in federal economic stimulus dollars, too, to bolster education and welfare spending over the next budgeting year.

"I don’t think you can underestimate the challenge this year to balance, even with the stimulus," Culver says. "I mean, we’re going through a worldwide recession." Culver has until midnight Tuesday to take action on bills legislators sent to his desk.

Culver says he’s going through the more than 60 bills that remain on his docket one-by-one. The 2009 Iowa legislative session ended on Sunday, April 26.  

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: ,

Des Moines man now charged with murder in stabbing case

May 22, 2009 By

Des Moines police say a man, originally wanted as a material witness in a weekend stabbing death, is now charged with first-degree murder. Authorities caught up with 19-year-old Luis Alvarado on Wednesday near Frisco, Colorado.

They traced Alvarado’s cell phone after he called 9-1-1 claiming he was being held hostage on a bus. The Colorado State Patrol evacuated the bus, but did not find any evidence that Alvarado was being held against his will.

Des Moines police believe Alvarado is responsible for killing 16-year-old Eduardo Marquez at a house party last weekend in Des Moines. Marquez, who was a star soccer player at Des Moines East High School, was dropped off outside Broadlawns Medical Center late Saturday night with a stab wound. He later died from his injuries. 

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Honor Flights take World War Two veterans to Washington memorial

May 22, 2009 By

Fundraising is underway to send hundreds of World War Two veterans from central Iowa on a one-day chartered flight to Washington, D.C. to visit the World War Two Memorial honoring their bravery. Arvid Huisman is helping to organize what’s being called the Central Iowa Honor Flight.

"Our goal is to have raised enough money to schedule the flights by late June," Huisman says. "We’re hoping we can raise enough to do at least two flights and if we do, we’ll do them about a week apart. That part is all still very sketchy because nothing happens until we raise enough money."

There’ll be no cost to the veterans. The trip includes visits to the World War Two Memorial, the Iwo Jima Monument and the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.

Huisman says he’s relying on Iowans to donate generously to honor these aging heroes. He says, "We’re estimating it’ll take about $450,000 to fly approximately 700 central Iowa veterans and their guardians and caretakers to Washington D.C. this summer." Several Iowa communities have already sent World War Two veterans to visit the memorial, with Honor Flights flying from Council Bluffs, Sioux City, Mason City and the Quad Cities.

Huisman took part in a special send-off in the Council Bluffs area earlier this month. He says there were 115 veterans, ranging in age from 82 to 90. "These individuals came in, some of them needed help with mobility, but when the Honor Guard marched to the front of the room, these veterans were on their feet in a matter of a second or two, snapping a salute," Huisman says.

"These men and women have paid such a price for our freedom and they still have that spirit in them." He says the event is strictly non-profit, so all gifts will be used exclusively for the veterans and are tax-deductible. Nationwide, he says more than 1,000 World War Two veterans are dying each day, adding, time is running out to thank them for their courage. For more information, call (515) 282-3599 or visit the Honor Flight website .

Filed Under: Human Interest, Military

Holiday motorists to find lots of construction zones

May 22, 2009 By

Motorists traveling through Iowa this holiday weekend will encounter plenty of road construction. Mark Bortle, with the Department of Transportation, says some of the biggest projects are on Interstate-35. In central Iowa, northbound I-35 is reduced to one lane at the Ellsworth interchange for bridge repairs.

"Also, on I-35 in northern Iowa, from milepost 172 to 175, (northbound) traffic will be restricted to a single lane for asphalt resurfacing," Bortle said. In southern Iowa, pavement replacement projects have reduced traffic to single lanes in both direction of I-35 through much of Warren County.

Near Osceola, I-35 traffic is placed in a head-to-head pattern. Construction projects will also slow traffic heading in east or westbound directions. "We have a number of projects across I-80," Bortle said.

"In western Iowa, at both the Adair and Atlantic interchanges, we have traffic head-to-head to facilitate bridge replacement." In eastern Iowa, lanes and shoulders are narrowed on I-80 near Iowa City for pavement reconstruction and traffic is shifted for replacement of the I-80 bridges spanning the Cedar River.

Bortle says eastbound I-80 over the Mississippi River at Le Claire remains closed for bridge repairs. A number of projects will also slow traffic on Interstate-29 in western Iowa. All of the construction projects affecting traffic on state, county and local road systems can be viewed online  here .

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ,
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